Wasn’t much at Milbrodale, only a couple of shacks. They’re picturesque in their own way.
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Hunter Valley – Part 2
Up the road from Broke in Milbrodale, we visited Baiame Cave. The cave is a rock overhang at the end of the valley, on a private farm.
Baiame is the creator in these parts.
Befitting a creator, his painting was a good four metres wide.
It was only the second time I’ve seen rock art in the Blue Mountains area. I remember seeing some hand stencils on the other side of the mountains near Newnes, but this was much grander.
Hunter Valley – Part 1
A few weeks ago we spent a weekend in the Hunter Valley to celebrate our 3rd wedding anniversary (my, doesn’t three years fly). Instead of visiting the same old wineries, we decided to branch out and explore the wineries near the town of Broke. Even though these towns was only 20-odd kilometres, they were worlds apart.
Broke was a sleepy backwater compared to the tourist hub of Pokolbin with nary a car in sight – perhaps how Pokolbin was before it became a wine mecca. The wineries we visited in Broke were the kind that we liked – small places producing great drops, with the cellar door being manned by the winemakers themselves. They were always happy to explain away their wines and methods. Mount Broke Wines let cattle graze among the vines in the winter months to keep the weeds down.
Sawtell
One last beach to visit on our trip to the Mid North Coast. Boambee Beach stretches north from Sawtell all the way to Coffs Harbour, almost 6km away.
Once again, it was a leash-free beach, so Bridie enjoyed another scamper through the sandbanks. She certainly was spoilt by all the leash-free beaches on this trip.
There were many sniffs, but she behaved well, unlike a beagle x poodle dog we saw, who stole a lady’s chips while she sunbathed! Thankfully, Bridie was happy just to feel the wind in her ears.
That’s the end of our Northern NSW journey. We’ll once again go closer to home next time.
Knitting Interval
One more toddler vest for a friend’s daughter, the appropriately named Ruby.
Urunga – Part 3
As we approached the beach.
We could look back and see how far we’d come.
We watched the river’s last run to the sea.
Before heading back to shore.
Urunga – Part 2
Let’s start our board walk.
First, we crossed the sandbar.
Where there were birds of all types.
Then on to the break wall, with a lovely view upstream all the way back to the hills.
Where we got close up to a hunter.
And its prey.
Urunga – Part 1
We are exploring another seaside place – Urunga, some 30km south of Coffs Harbour. A great feature of the town is its boardwalk, which runs for 1km over the lagoon from the town to its ocean beach. It was originally built in 1908, restored in 1988, and extended to its current length in 2010.
It follows the Kalang and Bellinger Rivers as it winds past mangroves…
And sandbanks.
The photos I took haven’t done it justice – it’s a gem.
Floral Interlude
The next day we headed back to the coast to the town of Urunga, just a few k’s away from Mylestom. But before we start exploring, how about a little floral interlude. We found this bottlebrush right by the estuary. It must be a real salt-loving variety.
To the Sea
We ended the day with a quick detour to the mouth of Bellinger, at the village of Mylestom.
As you can see, the escarpment isn’t so far away on this part of the coast, so one can easily go from the mountains to the sea in an hour or so.
We’ll take another wander around this coast line in my next post.
Static and Silence 